The federal government is set to run out of money on Friday, the passage of Biden’s $1.9 trillion reconciliation package may be delayed until next year as the Senate already has a packed schedule.
The Democrat-controlled Senate is tasked with funding the government and raising the debt ceiling before December 15, and the typical bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) must be passed.
The reconciliation package was hoped to be pushed; however, the brimming Senate calendar may delay its passage until January.
The foremost crisis for the Senate Democrats is funding the government. Democrats’ strategy may include a stopgap funding bill. The stopgap funding would require Senate Republicans and Sen. Mitch McConnel (R-KY) approval, “but that isn’t expected to be a major problem,” Punchbowl News reported.
If Republicans cave and again help Democrats fund the government, reportedly, the funding may last until the last week of January.
Raising the debt ceiling is the next obstacle Democrats face in December. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the government can pay its bills until approximately December 15. How the Democrats may raise the debt ceiling is still unknown. Senate Democrats seem opposed to raising it through the reconciliation package and the NDAA.
In October, McConnell promised not to help the Democrats raise the debt ceiling over Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) “childish behavior” on the Senate floor. Breitbart News reported:
McConnell wrote to Biden that Schumer “poisoned the well” in a Thursday rant on the Senate floor by suggesting “Republicans played a risky and partisan game” with the debt ceiling. “And I am glad their brinkmanship didn’t work,” Schumer said Thursday, not acknowledging that McConnell helped Schumer raise the debt ceiling with 11 votes.
After Schumer’s speech, Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) confronted Schumer about the tirade. Manchin reportedly told Schumer his speech was “fucking stupid.”
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As a result of the offensive, partisan speech, McConnell told the White House he will not be a part of any additional “assistance” in increasing the debt limit.
Another major piece of legislation requiring Senate approval is NDAA. Democrats and Republicans could not agree on the measure before Thanksgiving, so the debate continues into December. The measures under consideration are “repealing the 1991 and 2002 Iraq AUMFs, women in the draft, China,” Afghanistan, and other measures impacting the military-industrial complex.
The critical legislation deliberation may delay Biden’s huge tax and spend reconciliation package until 2022. The reconciliation package passed the House in mid-November, the Senate must now weigh the House’s version.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) are unlikely to vote for the House’s package as is it overflows with far-left wish list goodies such as subsidized prescription drugs, enhanced Medicare coverage, two free years of community college, amnesty, free housing, and free child care.